Stage Night
by Kileam
Summary: Jake has had something on his mind for a while now, and he decides to take his sister's advice and sing about it. Pre-Slash


A/N; Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Here's a song I've been using to get through though times recently and I hope you all enjoy how I've applied it!

Disclaimer; Don't own the Losers nor The Fray's Love Don't Die, all rights belong to their appropriate owners.

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JAKE

He'd had too much to drink, as was usually their case when they had free time and managed to get back into familiar territory. This time around, not only did they have one chaperone to make sure their all eventually got home in one piece, they had both Jolene and Jennifer, along with little Derek and Becky. Although the two children were currently safely saddled with a babysitter while their mothers enjoyed an eventful night out.

Jake downed another shot, smiling goofily at the rest of his team mates, not allowing the pang he felt when the usual grouch and menace was now replaced by a somber and menace with a figure Clay simply couldn't ignore for a second, and it only got worse as the night dragged on.

At least he had Jen and Cougar to keep him distracted, as he knew Pooch and Jolene deserved their semi-one-on-one time. If only they'd fork over the tray of shots they promised to bring back fifteen minutes ago.

"Hey, I know this band!" Jen called loudly, bringing Jake out of his thoughts.

"You do?" he asked, turning in his seat – and almost falling out of it if Cougar hadn't caught his arm – and squinting over at the stage.

"So do you, silly!" laughed his sister. "We went to school with them."

Jake pouted at that revelation.

"Excuse me for not being Mr. Popular like you, Miss Social Butterfly. I didn't get to hang backstage with all of our lovely wannabe school rock bands."

Jen didn't hesitate to reach around Cougar and smack Jake behind his blond head.

"Wake up, Jacob! You're the one who set up their electronics for my prom. Heck, they even allowed you to massacre a song in the middle of their set! I'm sure if you went up to them now, they'd get you to do the same again too!" she cheered.

That definitely caught his friends' attention and Jake groaned as Jolene and Pooch had finally decided to join them back down to Earth.

"Lady, have you _'heard'_ your brother singing? He's so off key even song birds won't answer him back!" antagonizes Pooch, earning a glare from his wife.

"That's not nice to say, Linwood," she scolds him.

"Be as it may, it's also true," Aisha supports Pooch. "He kept a whole group of people from getting into an elevator once because of it and they were those business people who'd rather run over a Priest than be late for work."

The whole group winced at the recollection, Jake sinking down in his seat. Jen shook her head slowly.

"Bull," she declared. "The point was to keep people off, it doesn't count. Go on up Jake, before they get too far into their sets they won't be able to be stopped."

Biting his bottom lip, Jake looked at Cougar, who raised a brow under the rather shy glance.

"Think I should go?" the hacker asked.

Taking a hold of two shot glasses, he placed one in front of Jake and drank down his own. The blond didn't hesitate for a second, adding to his _'already had too much'_ list before looking expectantly at his best friend, more curious than shy now.

Cougar suddenly smirked and waved Jake towards the stage. Happy to have gotten an order, Jake jumped to his feet and was halfway through the bar when he realized where he was headed. Looking back at his friends, he was met with waves of goodbye and wide smiles.

"Yeah, yeah, send in the lowly Corporal, he's the expendable one and all that," he grumbled, hands deep in his pockets and shoulders slouched forward.

Feeling something ruffling his hair, Jake's head came up just in time for the cowboy hat to fall forward and rest against his glasses, the rim hindering his view. Surprised, he removed the Hat from his head and looked back once more to see the sniper touch his thumb to his brow, a move he usually does to lift his Hat a micro-second to show support.

Now giddy, Jake put the Hat back on and almost skipped over to the band.

"Hi guys! I don't think you remember me, but we used to go to the same school," Jake started to ramble, but he was cut off almost immediately by the drummer.

"Hey, it's little J Junior!"

"You're right, it is! But he ain't little no more," laughed one of the guitarists, leaving his guitar to go shake Jake's hand. "What's your sister been feeding you man?"

"Hasn't been feeding me for a few years now, except for a few times when I got leave," shrugged Jake, glad they'd recognized him.

"Leave? You got enlisted? Is that how you got transformed into this giant?" the singer joked, having dated Jen back in the day.

"Yeah, they give you super serum or something?" added the drummer, a comic book fan also.

Jake rolled his eyes at their teasing banter, glancing over his shoulder to see his team all watching eagerly.

"More like my body caught up with my brain's age. I did skip a couple of years ahead in school after all," he replied, forcing out a nervous laugh. "Actually, I had a question for you guys."

The band members actually all leaned forward to hear him better over the ambiance music.

"Shoot man, woulda thought they'd trained that shy-guy outta you!" snickered the other guitarist. "C'mon, spit it out!"

"Well, my team is over there in the corner along with Jen and the guys don't think I can sing. I know I'm in way over my head asking this since you guys are total Gods of music, but could I sing one tiny little song?" Jake eventually managed to get out, Cougar's Hat between his hands, doing his best to not twist it in anxiety.

"You serious here?" asked the singer, putting his hand at his forehead to peer into the crowd, looking for said sister. "Dude, tell us the song you want and it's all yours to belt out!"

At first, Jake felt as if he was about to be denied, but when the singer basically threw the microphone into his hands, he was dumbfounded for a few seconds.

A smile was surely splitting his face in two.

COUGAR

"You sure they'll remember him?" Pooch asked, glancing over at Jen worriedly, just after Jake had left the table.

"Absolutely. I used to date one of them and he even tried to teach Jake how to use a guitar, even if he was just learning himself," she replied confidently.

"And how did that turn out?" Aisha asked, pierced brow raised with inquiry.

Jennifer tried to hide her wince, but they all saw directly through to it. The gesture made Cougar's glance intensify on the blond man, who stopped midway to destination.

"Smile and wave," Cougar instructed, knowing the hacker would back down if he wasn't encouraged at that very moment.

They all did as ordered, Clay letting out a chuckle at Jake's defeated walk.

"You'd think we were sending him off to his execution or something."

Standing, Cougar grabbed a hold of his Hat and took three slow breath before launching it off like a Frisbee over other patrons' heads, reaching destination without any wild limb knocking it out of the air.

"Holy shit Cougs! You've got mad skills there!" laughed Jen, amazed.

Cougar ignored his companions to salute his friend when the blond did turn with wonder all over his face.

"Of course he's got mad skills," huffed Clay. "He's not the best sniper for no reason, you know. What we really need to be worried about now is how having the Hat will increase Jensen's already enormous ego."

"Cougar gave him the Hat, Cougar can deal with the repercussion for all I care!" replied happily Pooch.

"Not gonna help a brother in need at all?" Aisha asked, to possibly cause dispute.

Instead of Pooch or Jolene answering – as Aisha was surely expecting – it was Jen who spoke up in her brother's defense.

"Contrary to popular belief, Jake does know when to silently appreciate something. If he was about to cause a scene about Carlos' Hat, he would have already been back with it, with how trashed he is right now. And like Pooch said, Carlos passed him the Hat; Carlos will deal with Jake's reaction to being honored by the Hat. Now shush, my baby brother's about to do his debut on a real stage!" Jen announced cheerfully, almost standing up as Jake was indeed invited on the front stage.

"Ladies and Gents, thanks for coming to see us! Now usually we don't have long introduction or speeches, but tonight is a special night indeed! With us right now is not only an old school mate of ours, but also a man who's gone overseas to defend our proud country! Please give a warm welcome to our buddy J Junior and enjoy his so sweet voice!" the singer called, stepping back and allowing Jake to take the mic, front and center.

The first guitarist started to run his fingers over his strings and Jake closed his eyes as he let out the first words.

"_First Verse"_

Drums set in and people were clearly enjoying the show as Jensen started to sway with the microphone stand.

But at the Losers' table, they were all wide eyed, wondering if they'd heard the lyrics properly, but the second verse confirmed it.

"_Second Verse"_

There was only one person Jake could be addressing like that, and at that very moment he didn't have the cover of his Hat to hide his stunned expression, nor the blush rising on his cheeks.

"_Third Verse"_

Jen actually let out a giggle while Clay groaned and hid his face behind his hands, Pooch letting out a cackle as he remembered some fun instances of insubordination where either Jake or Cougar would do their best to reach their teammate.

"_Fourth Verse"_

And there was no denying that action speak louder than words for Jake seeing as he could speak a whole day without giving out any information, even less keep to one topic, confusing the listeners beyond understanding.

But when he did bring his gun, when he did start to engage in an activity, Jacob Jensen was committed to be the last man standing.

"_Fifth Verse"_

Cougar didn't have enough fingers to count how many times Jake had dragged him out of tight places, injured or not, by cheer will power and plain stubbornness. Sure, they would never leave the others behind, but Cougar could admit Jake not being in his view and in one piece did drive up the walls – figuratively speaking – on a few ops.

"_Sixth Verse"_

A shiver ran down the Sniper's back and without conscious thought, he was on his feet and slowly making his way to the stage, where Jake still had his eyes closed behind his glasses, Hat lowered to hide half of his face, like someone would do with a Fedora instead of a cowboy Hat.

"_Seventh Verse"_

They'd always given doctors and nurses the hardest of times, refusing to leave the room until the other was ready to leave, often before medically advised, but always because someone just couldn't deal with them anymore. And that was when they weren't both hospitalized and in different rooms or wards because of different type of injuries. Clay and Roque always had to intervene to get them in the same room, otherwise no one was safe from their carnage.

"_Eight Verse"_

As the last strings of the guitar stilled, Cougar felts Jen's hand close over his and give him a small, reassuring squeeze. Squeezing back, Cougar moved onto the stage, retook possession of his Hat and pulled Jake away from the band, down the stage and be-lined for the door, never letting go of his hacker.

"What is it Cougs? Did you think I sang that badly?" asked worriedly Jake, looking back only once when the singer sent him praise and a goodbye. "Cause you know, I did my best there."

Once out in the fresh air, Cougar pushed Jake against the wall.

"Silencio," he ordered gently, knowing the chatterbox would fall quiet even if it wasn't an order, not moving from his position either. "You mean it?"

Jake blinked, tilting his head to the side like the big puppy he usually portrayed. A smile crawled over Jake's face and, not removing his back from the wall, pulled Cougar to him, lips whispering against the Sniper's ear.

"I'd like to watch them try; they'll never take my body from your side," he repeated, firmly.

The End

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A/N; Had to modify it a bit because of the rules, for full version with proper lyrics, go on AO3, same name and you won't have to look up the lyrics. Have a good day!


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